Surah Ash Shuarah
The Day (The Ressurection) when neither wealth will be of any use (to any one) nor sons, [ 88] except to one who will come to Allah with a sound heart, [ Surah As Shuarah – the Poets 26:89]
This verse has declared that wealth and children will not be of any help to a person on the Day of Judgment. This declaration is subjected to exception in the words, “except to one who will come to Allah with sound heart”
Of the most significant effects of persistent sinning that remains unchecked, is that it hardens the heart. As The Prophet ﷺ said, “Verily, when the servant commits a sin a black spot appears upon his heart. If he abandons the sin, seeks forgiveness, and repents, then his heart will be polished. If he returns to the sin, the blackness will be increased until it overcomes his heart. It is the covering that Allah has mentioned: ‘No, but on their hearts is a covering because of what they have earned’.” [Tirmidhi]
Al-Nu’man ibn Bashir reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
أَلَا وَإِنَّ فِي الْجَسَدِ مُضْغَةً إِذَا صَلَحَتْ صَلَحَ الْجَسَدُ كُلُّهُ وَإِذَا فَسَدَتْ فَسَدَ الْجَسَدُ كُلُّهُ أَلَا وَهِيَ الْقَلْبُ
Verily, in the body is a piece of flesh which, if sound, the entire body is sound, and if corrupt, the entire body is corrupt. Truly, it is the heart. Source: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 52, Grade: Muttafaqun Alayhi
We said, “O Messenger of Allah, we know truthful in speech. What is a heart swept clean?” The Prophet said:
هُوَ التَّقِيُّ النَّقِيُّ لا إِثْمَ فِيهِ وَلا بَغْيَ وَلا حَسَدَ
One that is Godfearing and pure, in which there is neither sin, nor transgression, nor envy. We said, “Who shows a sign of it?” The Prophet said: الَّذِي يَشْنَأُ الدُّنْيَا وَيُحِبُّ الآخِرَةَ One who despises worldliness and loves the Hereafter. We said, “And who shows a sign of it?” The Prophet said: A believer with good character.Source: Shu’ab al-Imān 4462, Grade: Sahih
مُؤْمِنٌ فِي خُلُقٍ حَسَنٍ
Anas ibn Malik reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said to me:
يَا بُنَيَّ إِنْ قَدَرْتَ أَنْ تُصْبِحَ وَتُمْسِيَ لَيْسَ فِي قَلْبِكَ غِشٌّ لِأَحَدٍ فَافْعَلْ
Young man, if you are able every morning and evening to remove any rancor from your heart towards anyone, do so.
Abu Huraira reported: A man came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and he complained about the hardness of his heart. The Prophet said:
إِنْ أَرَدْتَ تَلْيِينَ قَلْبِكَ فَأَطْعِمْ الْمِسْكِينَ وَامْسَحْ رَأْسَ الْيَتِيمِ
If you want to soften your heart, feed the poor and pat the head of the orphan.
Source: Musnad Aḥmad 7576, Grade: Hasan
Abu Dharr reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
Wealth is in the heart and poverty is in the heart. Whoever is wealthy in his heart will not be harmed no matter what happens in the world. Whoever is impoverished in his heart will not be satisfied no matter how much he has in the world. Verily, he will only be harmed by the greed of his own soul.
الْغِنَى فِي الْقَلْبِ وَالْفَقْرُ فِي الْقَلْبِ مَنْ كَانَ الْغِنَى فِي قَلْبِهِ لا يَضُرُّهُ مَا لَقِيَ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا وَمَنْ كَانَ الْفَقْرُ فِي قَلْبِهِ فَلا يُغْنِيهِ مَا أَكْثَرَ لَهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَإِنَّمَا يَضُرُّ نَفْسَهُ شُحُّها
Source: al-Mu’jam al-Kabīr 1643, Grade: Sahih
Consequences of Sin in Islam
We will quote here some of the effects of sin, as described by Ibn Al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him):
- Being deprived of knowledge for knowledge is light that Allah causes to reach the heart, and sin extinguishes that light. When Ash-Shafi`i sat before Malik and read to him, he admired him because of the intelligence, alertness and understanding that he saw in him. He said, “I think that Allah has caused light to enter your heart, so do not extinguish it with the darkness of sin.”
- Being deprived of provision. In Musnad Ahmad it is narrated that Thawban (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ‘A man is deprived of provision because of the sins that he commits.’” (Narrated by Ibn Majah, 4022, classed as sound by Al-Albani in Sahih Ibn Majah)
- Sense of alienation that comes between a person and his Lord, and between him and other people. One of the Salaf (righteous predecessors) said: “If I disobey Allah, I see that in the attitude of my riding beast and my wife.”
- Things become difficult for him, so that he does not turn his attention towards any matter but he finds the way blocked or he finds it difficult. By the same token, for the one who fears Allah, things are made easy for him.
- The sinner will find darkness in his heart, which he will feel just as he feels the darkness of night. So this darkness affects his heart as the physical darkness affects his vision. For obedience is light and disobedience is darkness. The stronger the darkness grows, the greater becomes his confusion, until he falls into innovation, misguidance and other things that lead to doom, without even realizing, like a blind man who goes out in the darkness of the night, walking alone
This darkness grows stronger until it covers the eyes, then it grows stronger until it covers the face, which appears dark and is seen by everyone. `Abdullah ibn `Abbas said: “Good deeds make the face light, give light to the heart, and bring about ample provision, physical strength and love in people’s hearts. Bad deeds make the face dark, give darkness to the heart, and bring about physical weakness, a lack of provision and hatred in people’s hearts.”
- Deprivation of worship and obedience. If sin brought no punishment other than that it prevents a person from doing an act of worship which is the opposite of sin, and cuts off access to other acts of worship, that would be bad enough. So the sin cuts off a third way and a fourth way and so on, and because of the sin he is cut off from many acts of worship, each of which would have been better for him than this world and everything in it. So he is like a man who eats food that is bound to cause a lengthy sickness, and thus he is deprived of many other foods that are better than that. And Allah is the One Whose help we seek.
- Sin breeds sin until it dominates a person and he cannot escape from it.
- Sin weakens a person’s willpower. It gradually strengthens his will to commit sin and weakens his will to repent until there is no will in his heart to repent at all… so he seeks forgiveness and expresses repentance, but it is merely words on the lips, like the repentance of the liars, whose hearts are still determined to commit sin and persist in it. This is one of the most serious diseases that are most likely to lead to doom.
- He will become desensitized and will no longer find sin abhorrent, so it will become his habit, and he will not be bothered if people see him committing the sin or talk about him.
For the leaders of immorality, this is the ultimate shamelessness in which they find great pleasure, such that they feel proud of their sin and will speak of it to people who do not know that they have done it, saying, “O so and so, I did such and such.” Such people cannot be helped and the path to repentance is blocked for them in most cases. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “All of my ummah (followers) will be fine except for those who commit sin openly, and that includes cases where Allah conceals a person’s sin, but the following morning he exposes himself and says, ‘O So and so, I did such and such last night, so he shamelessly exposes himself when all night his Lord had concealed his sin.” (Narrated by Al-Bukhari, 5949 and Muslim, 2744).
- When there are many sins they leave a mark on the heart of the person who commits them, so he becomes one of the negligent. As one of the Salaf said, concerning the verse–
{Nay! But on their hearts is the Ran (covering of sins and evil deeds) which they used to earn.} [Al-Mutaffifin 83:14 – interpretation of the meaning] – this means sin after sin.
How this starts is that the heart gets stained by sin, and if the sin increases then the stain grows bigger until it becomes the Ran (covering of sin and evil deeds), then it increases until it becomes a seal, and the heart becomes covered and sealed. If that happens after a person had been guided and had understood, then his heart is turned upside down, and at that point the devil gains control over him and directs him as he wants.
“Have you seen he who has taken as his god his [own] desire, and Allah has sent him astray due to knowledge and has set a seal upon his hearing and his heart and put over his vision a veil? So who will guide him after Allah ? Then will you not be reminded?” (45:23)
يَا بُنَيَّ وَذَلِكَ مِنْ سُنَّتِي وَمَنْ أَحْيَا سُنَّتِي فَقَدْ أَحَبَّنِي وَمَنْ أَحَبَّنِي كَانَ مَعِي فِي الْجَنَّة
Young man, that is my Sunnah. Whoever revives my Sunnah has loved me, and whoever loves me will be with me in Paradise. Source: Sunan al-Tirmidhī 2678, Grade: Hasan
REPENTANCE: The Prophet ﷺ said, that Allah said in a Hadith Qudsi, “O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as it.”
Sahih International: And it has already come down to you in the Book that when you hear the verses of Allah [recited], they are denied [by them] and ridiculed; so do not sit with them until they enter into another conversation. Indeed, you would then be like them. Indeed Allah will gather the hypocrites and disbelievers in Hell all together – Surah Nisa(The Women) – 4:10;
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